Let's begin reading right: A developmental approach to beginning literacy - Softcover

Fields, Marjorie Vannoy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0675206162 ISBN 13: 9780675206167

Publisher: Merrill Pub. Co, 1987

Synopsis

Written from a constructivist viewpoint, this popular book for future teachers of children from preschool through the primary grades focuses on how young children construct literacy and how teachers can support and guide that activity through developmentally-appropriate teaching practices. Advocates giving children a choice of the reading material from which they will learn; and, caution against grouping children solely by literacy ability. Examines current research into emergent and holistic literacy, and tie its findings to instructional practices that teach such skills as phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling within the context of meaningful reading and writing tasks. Increased coverage of assessment—emphasizes performance-based alternatives to standardized testing during early childhood and examines current recommendations in terms of developmentally-appropriate practice. Provides a strong explanation of shared and interactive writing. Discusses literacy development in infants and toddlers. For future or current teachers interested in literacy or reading methods in early childhood.

About this title

About the Author:

Marjorie V. Fields is Professor Emeritus of early childhood education at the University of Alaska Southeast. She coordinated early childhood graduate teacher education programs throughout the state of Alaska for many years. A former kindergarten and first grade teacher, she has studied how children become literate for several decades. She has published several articles in professional journals and chapters in edited books on the topic of emergent literacy and has also written the book Your Child Learns to Read and Write for parents on that topic (Olney, MD: Association for Childhood Education International, 1998). She has been active in early childhood professional associations, having served as vice president of the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators and also having been on the Governing Board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Her proudest accomplishments relate to raising two sons: Michael, an employment law attorney, and David, a structural engineer. Her new focus is her granddaughters Sarah and Caroline, who will be closely documented during their emergent literacy process.

Lois A. Groth is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University. A former elementary teacher, she now teaches literacy courses in the elementary education and literacy programs. Lois does staff development in early literacy, most recently with the Fairfax County, Virginia, Office for Children, to develop an Early Literacy Institute for early childhood practitioners. She has three young children, Kyle, Jennifer, and Sara, who help her practice reading and writing right.

Katherine L. (Katy) Spangler is a professor of education at the University of Alaska Southeast, where she coordinates and teaches in an elementary teacher credential program for students in small, rural communities in Alaska. A former bilingual elementary teacher, she now teaches courses in reading and writing methods and children's literature. She has a special interest in literature for children from Alaska and the North. Katy is the Alaska editor of Exploring Our United States: The Pacific States (Oryx, 1994) and frequently gives workshops in Alaskan children's literature. Her two children, Patrick and Mary McCormick, grew up with Let's Begin Reading Right and are now in high school and middle school.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

In June 2002, International Reading Association President-elect Lesley Mandel Morrow convened a group of early childhood educators to discuss how the International Reading Association can have an impact on U.S. early childhood programs. "It is expected that early childhood literacy will become a key issue for IRA as the Association seeks to expand its relationships with professionals who are working with young children." The links between early childhood and literacy are strengthening and becoming public knowledge. Politics and policies have embraced early reading, thereby making it the focus of discussion at all levels—national, state, and local—and involving all parties, researchers, practitioners, and parents. Concurrently, professional organizations are becoming increasingly public in their cry for improved practices. What a thrilling time to be working in the field of early literacy!

However, we must be especially cautious, as this burgeoning interest in early literacy is not without its risks. Increased emphasis on accountability correlates with intense pressure to raise children's assessment scores. Many of these high-stakes assessments are inappropriate for young children. We fear that teachers will return to didactic instructional methods that have been discouraged for years. These methods are also inappropriate for young literacy learners.

Now more than ever, we need to remain firm in our commitment to link what we know about how children learn and our teaching practices. Since its first edition, Let's Begin Reading Right has focused on how young children construct literacy and the experiences that support its development. We recognize there are naysayers whose voices are many and whose volume is loud. This fifth edition is our response. With it, we continue to spread the word about developmentally appropriate practice.

We start by briefly describing children's learning process in general; then we give some detail on how the learning process works with oral language acquisition. We build from that to explain how youngsters come to understand and use written language. This theory base provides the foundation for all our subsequent teaching descriptions and recommendations. We include numerous examples of children's writing as evidence of children's thinking and hypotheses as they progress in their knowledge of written language. Children in preschool through the primary grades are our main focus, though we briefly address the literacy development of infants and toddlers.

This book is also designed to help the teacher of young children to understand and validate the importance of play in the child's literacy development. We describe how oral language proficiency and meaningful interaction with print are linked to play. We have made a special point of describing print-rich environments that encourage children to explore functional writing. Developmentally appropriate early childhood education practices are further encouraged through recommendations for providing a variety of experiences and oral language opportunities as part of helping children learn to read and write. Teaching examples illustrate the importance of an authentically integrated curriculum for meaningful involvement in literacy events.

In an attempt to dispel the pervasive misconception that isolated drill in skills is better than learning skills in a meaningful context, we carefully explain the development of reading and writing skills within authentic literacy events. Answers to the inevitable questions about teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling assure the fearful that children are being helped to learn phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling in the most effective ways. Discussions of reading skills emphasize the necessity of helping youngsters balance their attention to graphophonemic, semantic, and syntactic information when reading. We try to show that this balance is essential for maintaining a focus on meaning while reading. We also explain how writing skills—from learning to form letters of the alphabet to using punctuation effectively—are best learned through authentic reading and writing activities. In addition, we offer a chapter that focuses entirely on selecting instructional materials for reading and writing.

We make sure to discuss assessment procedures that are congruent with comprehensive, holistic approaches to literacy, and we give detailed examples of how effective teaching and assessment occur simultaneously. Chapter 8 explains performance-based assessment, documenting acquisition of literacy skills during children's meaningful involvement with print. The chapter also explains current assessment recommendations in terms of developmentally appropriate practice. As we try to dispel some confusion about performance-based assessment, we also outline the problems inherent in high-stakes, standardized testing. Detailed scenarios of reading and writing instructional conferences in Chapters 6 and 7 as well as Chapter 8 help in visualizing assessment as part of a child-centered approach to teaching.

As in previous editions, our recommendations for teaching literacy combine developmentally appropriate early-childhood practice with research-based views of emergent literacy and holistic literacy. In addition, we link recommendations arising from the latest research on early childhood, emergent literacy, and comprehensive literacy with constructivist learning theory. Let's Begin Reading Right continues to remind readers of how young children learn, challenging teachers to use that understanding as the bases for teaching decisions.

CHANGES IN THE FIFTH EDITION

As we worked on this revision, we were again amazed at how much classrooms had changed in the four years since we wrote the previous edition. These changes include modifications in the materials teachers use to teach, the ever increasing level of diversity in the classrooms, and the current "hot" issues. Once again, the most significant change is in the political climate, with direct impact on the classroom. There has been resurgence in the use of skills-based classroom literacy activities, especially in the area of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and spelling. We continue to outline authentic learning opportunities in all areas, showing better ways of accomplishing the goals shared by both proponents of isolated skills drill and by those who are convinced that skills are best learned in a meaningful context.

Changes to this edition specifically address phonemic awareness and vocabulary development as well as phonics and spelling. Assessment is another political hotbed. We reaffirm our position against high-stakes testing during early childhood and offer additional options for holistic assessment.

We added to the writing chapters to more fully explain shared and interactive writing. The emergent-writing chapter now mirrors the emergent-reading chapter in its outline of levels of assistance during instruction. Reading to, with, and by students complements writing to, with, and by students and vice versa. Providing the right help at the right time is emphasized for all children regardless of ability or special needs or language or diversity.

As we updated references and materials, we were reminded that technology continues to gain influence in education. We added Internet sources where appropriate and provide an outline for evaluating the utility of computer as well as traditional texts. Teachers need to know more about technology than ever before. We have enjoyed our journey of growth and change as we worked to keep this book current. We are pleased to be able to offer a new edition that reflects our process as well as our purpose, beginning reading right!

About this edition

• Publisher: Merrill Pub. Co
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0675206162
• ISBN 13: 9780675206167
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 249